About Me
Carcass was formed by Napalm Death guitarist Bill Steer together with drummer Ken Owen in 1985. They were based in Liverpool. On their first demo, an Indian named Sanjiv did the vocals. In 1987, bassist and vocalist Jeffrey Walker, formerly of the Electro Hippies, joined them. Carcass are considered by many to have been one of the most influential and talented bands within the death metal scene. The band focused on topics mostly relating to the medical field and bizarre combinations of medical equipment and chemicals with human anatomy. This lyrical focus led many in the music press to falsely believe that one or more members of the band had studied medicine. There is more evidence to show that this lyrical focus was a method of pushing vegetarianism (for example "Exhume To Consume"). Typical Carcass song titles from their early work include "Lavaging Expectorate of Lysergide Composition" and "Microwaved Uterogestation."Having started their career as a goregrind band, Carcass gradually changed their sound and lyrical content. Starting with Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious, the careful listener could hear music-theoretic experimentation beyond the amodal noise of previous work, and even a hint of the harmonic minor scales that would later crystallise more fully. Their best-known album, Heartwork, was largely devoid of the gory lyrics and grind style that had been present on their earlier recordings, with a cleaner, more melodic sound, but retaining occasional forays out of more complex harmonies into amodal grind.With Carcass having signed to Sony before the release of Heartwork, some fans regarded the evolved sound as proof of the sellout they had expected. In contrast, many were very receptive to what was perceived as a new zenith of talent and composition in death metal, showing a command of motif development and harmony that is underappreciated even within the metal community. In fact, today some credit Carcass with being a very early founding influence for not just one, but two genres of metal - grindcore and the melodic death metal sound. Michael Amott left the band right after Heartwork was recorded and was for a while replaced by Mike Hickey who was later replaced by Carlo Regadas. Carcass broke up after releasing Swansong, which drew some criticism from fans for its melodic riffs which in some ways bordered on late 1980s thrash.Ken, Jeff and Carlo continued with the Blackstar project accompanied with former Cathedral bassist Mark Griffiths. Blackstar (later Blackstar Rising) went defunct after Ken suffered from a severe brain haemorrhage. Michael Amott went on to found hard rocking combo Spiritual Beggars and Arch Enemy, a successful Swedish death metal band. In the biggest musical departure, Bill Steer reappeared in Firebird, a Claptonesque guitar-rock trio.Most bands claim to progress with each album, though seldom can really be said to have challenged themselves with new innovations every time they step inside a studio. However, few people who picked up on a band called Carcass, and their splatter-fest Earache debut 'Reek of Putrefaction' (1988), could fail to see the true progression represented by today's incarnation. Each new Carcass record has marked a gradual and natural evolution from primitive beginnings. The band's second effort, 'Symphonies of Sickness' (1989) gave way to the more palatable 'Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious' (1991), before the dam burst with 'Heartwork' (1993) and a subsequent worldwide deal with Columbia Records buried the myth that Carcass were just another noisy 'death metal' band.Bassist Jeff Walker explains that the evolution process "is more like people growing out of a naive state, and just coming straight to the point. The songs on 'Swansong' are less a mix of too many riffs, and more about a simpler structure, the verse chorus verse chorus thing." 'Swansong' is the latest, and quite possibly the last Carcass offering, recorded over a year ago, though no less powerful for the delay. It has brought the band to the accessible sound they hinted at on the massive 'Heartwork.' Walker's rasping vocals retain the intensity that hallmarked the earlier albums, but the overall sound is more mature - fluid solos blend with powerful metal riffs to produce an album of real class. References to medical atrocities are long forgotten."Some of the lyrics deal with frustrations and experiences we've had since the last record was out and the whole deal with Columbia. It's more like I'm getting it out of my system, because the album has been ready for so long, but factors outside of the band have been holding it back." With the success of 'Heartwork' (it reached Number 54 in the UK National Album chart), Carcass signed worldwide to Columbia Records in April 1994, only to part ways after the recording of 'Swansong' and return to Earache. Says Walker; "We were never naive enough to think we were going to become the next Metallica, although we always got on well with Columbia. It's almost like the second Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle, we got the money and they didn't get the album!"Stand out numbers like 'Keep on Rotting', 'R**k the Vote' and 'Tomorrow Belongs to Nobody' demonstrate a songwriting skill that few major established rock bands could equal. Coupled with the natural aggression that Carcass never lost, it makes for compelling listening, strangely commercial but with an underlying malevolent attitude. Cries of sell-out are predictable but the band remain undeterred; "Actually Columbia claimed 'Swansong' wasn't commercial enough, they even wanted me take singing lessons,' laughs Walker. "I suppose part of the reason we got dropped was because we wouldn't compromise, we stuck to our guns - how many bands would do that on a major label?"Back on the Earache roster, the Columbia experience had taken its toll - months of waiting heightened band tensions, although Carcass amazingly remixed songs on both Bjork's 'Hyperballad' Top 10 UK single, and Killing Joke's 'Democracy.' Swansong' is without doubt the best Carcass have produced - Bill Steer's audacious leads meets the bludgeoning rhythm section, (completed by drummer Ken Owen), head on, but instead of pummelling the listener senseless, it slyly worms its way into the mind with a seething, malignant ease. Aggressive yet melodic, influenced by traditional metal sounds but uncompromisingly relevant in an age of passing trends and marketing politics, Carcass '96 is a cultured beast.Carcass have never done the obvious, and 'Swansong' echoes the frustrations and personal trials of a band intent on going against the grain, confident in the knowledge that they are doing something different. Supreme musicianship twinned with a natural refusal to follow the predictable have led Carcass to this point.
